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Drew feels healthy, ready to help Red Sox

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FORT MYERS, Fla. -- If another season is drawing near, the Red Sox must be breaking in a new shortstop. The revolving door that hasn't stopped since Nomar Garciaparra was traded on July 31, 2004, continues into another year, as veteran Stephen Drew is the latest to join the carousel.

With the same No. 7 his older brother J.D. wore and an eerily similar voice, Drew is eager to get started in the next chapter of his career.

Drew is on a one-year contract, which means the Red Sox will probably have -- yep -- another new shortstop in 2014. The good news is that the pipeline is suddenly stocked, as Jose Iglesias, Xander Bogaerts and Deven Marrero all aim to be the team's shortstop of the future.

In other words, Drew could well be a placeholder.

"Right now, I'm just going to focus on this year," Drew said. "I'm really excited to be here and hopefully I put up a good year. Every year you want to come in and talk about getting to the World Series. Hopefully we can get there."

Drew is eager to rebound from his subpar 2012 season, when he was still recovering from a broken right ankle suffered in a fierce collision in 2011.

"I feel good," Drew said. "After that injury, an unfortunate accident, it was a long process getting back. I feel really good. All the hard work I put in and the preparation coming in this year, I hope it pays off. I really did put a lot of work into it. I'm just ready to get going and see how it goes."